You can use any kind of milk to make buttermilk! Basically, all you are doing is curdling the milk by adding an acidic ingredient. Commercial buttermilk is made either by collecting the sour liquid from churned butter or from culturing milk with Lactobacillus. The bacteria curdles milk by producing lactic acid in the same process used to make yogurt or sour cream. Buttermilk made from butter often contains flecks of butter in it, but it is still relatively low fat compared with whole milk. If you want even lower fat content, you can make your own buttermilk from 2%, 1%, or skim milk. Be aware this may affect your recipe if the buttermilk is intended to supply some of the fat in the recipe. Using a low fat product cuts calories, but it also affects the texture and moisture of the final recipe.
Use any acidic ingredient, such as citrus juice or vinegar, or any cultured dairy product to curdle milk and produce buttermilk. For best results, add the milk to the acidic ingredient, rather than the other way around, and allow 5-10 minutes for the ingredients to react with each other. The exact measurements are not critical, so if you only have a teaspoon of lemon juice rather than a tablespoon, for example, you'll still get buttermilk. Don't overdo the acid, or you'll get a sour-tasting product. Also, you can refrigerate the buttermilk to use later. There is nothing magical about the 5-10 minutes given in these recipes. It's just a safe amount of time to allow the reaction to occur. Once the milk curdles, you've got buttermilk. You can use it or refrigerate it, as you prefer.
Lemon Juice
Pour 1 tablespoon of lemon juice into a liquid measuring cup. Add milk to reach the 1 cup mark. Allow the mixture to sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes.
White Vinegar
Pour 1 tablespoon of white vinegar into a liquid measuring cup. Add milk to reach the 1 cup mark. Allow the mixture to stand for 5 minutes, then stir and use in a recipe.
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